Commissioners Applaud New Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Partnership

It’s also a unique partnership. Beginning with the 2014 contest, the conferences will help manage the game, which is owned by the Cactus Bowl Foundation and played annually in ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium. Under the new deal, the game will match the sixth selection from the Pac-12 against the fifth pick from the Big 12, after selections by the College Football Playoff.

“It’s a little bit of a new model in the bowl environment,” said Bowlsby, whose conference has been in the game since 2006. “The conferences have a little bit of skin in the game. That’s a good thing. We’re going to try and be very innovative with it.”

The Pac-12 returns to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl after an eight-year absence.

“It’s a market we’re very familiar with,” Scott said. “Our schools and their fan bases and alumni love to travel to the area, especially at the time of year when we play, in late December. We love the matchup. Our schools are really delighted to work with an organization that we have a great working relationship with in a market we love to be in, love to travel to, and against a high-quality opponent.”

The commissioners spoke at the inaugural Fiesta Bowl Kickoff Luncheon on Aug. 29 at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort.

The 2010 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl produced $84.6 million in economic impact, according to a survey by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, and the game is estimated to have generated hundreds of millions more since its founding as the Copper Bowl in Tucson in 1989.

The 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl will kick off at 8:15 p.m. MST on Saturday, December 28 in Sun Devil Stadium. ESPN will broadcast the game. This year, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl will match the third selection from the Big Ten against the third pick from the Big 12, after BCS selections.